Sixteen Jeffco liquor providers were cited for providing alcohol to a minor in a recent large-scale sting operation, marking a significant increase in the percentage of stores cited over previous years.

Ten of the stores are in South Jeffco and include a mix of convenience stores, independent establishments and a grocery store.

As part of the yearly sting operation, underage sheriff’s cadets attempted to purchase beer without providing identification at 70 county businesses.

“(We) used underage individuals to go in and purchase beer,” sheriff’s spokesman Mark Techmeyer said. “We try to do these at least once a year. … We’ve had larger (amounts of citations), but this is certainly larger than the norm.”

Typically, liquor providers are about 85 percent compliant, Techmeyer said. During the recent sting on May 18 and 19 and June 2, only 77 percent of the businesses targeted were not cited with violations.

“We’re normally around six (citations), so it’s quite a jump,” Techmeyer said. “Our hope in this thing is to have 100 percent compliance.”

“The person who conducted the transaction is charged with sale of alcohol to an underage person,” Techmeyer said. “The liquor-license holder is brought before the liquor board for a show-cause hearing.”

The resulting volume of hearings has clogged the liquor board’s agenda for the past two months. Numerous hearings have been postponed and rescheduled to shorten the queue at each meeting.

Despite the number of recent citations, the Sheriff’s Office would prefer to work supportively with local businesses to help reduce instances of alcohol sales to underage customers, Techmeyer said.

“We’d like to work with them,” he said. “Our goal isn’t to be busting retail stores for underage noncompliance.”